Elisha Hunt Rhodes

Elisha Hunt Rhodes (21 March 1842-14 January 1917) was a colonel in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.

Biography
Elisha Hunt Rhodes was born in Pawtuxet, Rhode Island in 1842, and he enlisted in the US Army at the start of the American Civil War in 1861, leaving his job as a harness-maker's clerk to serve in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry. He was elected First Sergeant, much to his surprise, and his regiment moved out to Washington DC after two weeks of drilling, sailing to Washington via steamer. He advanced from corporal to Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the regiment, serving at the Siege of Petersburg in 1865. After the war, he became a successful businessman, and he always attended regimental reunions. In 1875, he was appointed collector of internal revenue in Rhode Island by President Ulysses S. Grant, and he served as a Brigadier-General in the Rhode Island militia from 1879 to 1892. He died in 1917.